Britannia Beach

Director: David Vaisbord
Canada(2002)

Synopsis taken from: http://www3.telus.net/gelmonandvaisbord/films_britannia.htm

I watched this documentary a couple of years ago, pretty interesting, but a messed up situation.

Britannia Beach, Vaisbord's one-hour documentary, tells of people trying to maintain a community where community is discouraged. Mixing in archival footage and sound effects, he paints a picture of a once-bustling company town that housed thousands of residents, most of whom worked at the biggest copper mine in the Commonwealth. There were, in fact, two communities -- the sea-level town of Britannia Beach and, 600 metres up the mountain, the community of Mount Sheer, which had 1,000 residents living in a Shangri-la-like setting.

The mine closed in 1974, leaving a massive pollution problem. Today, the town has only 200 to 250 residents. They pay their rent to a landowner who'd prefer to see them gone. Meanwhile, the abandoned mine continues to seep metal contamination into the Pacific Ocean, as much as a tonne of heavy metals each day.